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After the day that golf changed forever, with a seismic merger of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour, it’s useful to go back a year.
That’s when all of this seemed implausible, if comments could be trusted as honest and genuine.
At the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan criticized those who left for LIV Golf. He sat behind a news desk with CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz at his side as the course at St. George’s Golf & Country Club filled the background.
It was the final day of the tournament, when Rory McIlroy — who later became one of the Tour’s most vocal supporters — defended his title.
But in the broadcast booth, Nantz’s interview with Monahan reflected the somber reality overshadowing the Tour. LIV Golf recently had launched its first tournament in London, and the controversial, Saudi-backed association snatched Tour members and handed them millions more than they ever could have dreamed of making with Monahan.
Nantz questioned the commissioner about the comments from a 9/11 survivors group reported in the New York Post, wondering whether he had spoken with Tour members about the consequences of a defection.
“I think you’d have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications,” Monahan told Nantz. “And as it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones, and so my heart goes out to them.
“I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving: Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”
This weekend’s Canadian Open won’t even be about the actual golf, not after the PGA, LIV and the European tours announced a stunning merger Tuesday morning.
Monahan called it “a historic day for the game we all know and love.” Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the PGA’s Policy Board.
All of the contentious litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour will fade away. All of the controversial history, and torn relationships, will not.
There isn’t even a name for this new conglomerate, but the PGA Tour, which originally wanted to distance itself from the human right violations of Saudi Arabia, will now have the PIF as an investor. It’ll have a say in the sport’s future.
As if there needed to be another reminder that sports — when all the micro results and the macro storylines are distilled to their essences — was all about the money, the reactions from both sides, and from everyone involved, on Tuesday said it all.
Phil Mickelson, who became one of the first stars to defect, for an approximately $200 million contract, called it an “awesome day today.” Brooks Koepka, another LIV Golf advocate, joked about a “Welfare Check” on golf commentator Brandel Chamblee, who has been outspoken in opposing the Saudi-backed association. Collin Morikawa, who remained loyal to the Tour, tweeted that “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.”
Even Donald Trump, who recently hosted an LIV Golf event, chimed in on the “big, beautiful, and glamorous” merger.
Still, countless questions remain unanswered, and they’ll stay that way until the details of the agreement leak out.
What happens to the PGA Tour members who hated the idea of being associated with Saudi Arabia? They were rich before, they’re still rich and they stood up for the values they wanted. Monahan showed that loyalty was worth nothing.
How do the golf fans who chose ethics over names and network associations grapple with this development? For better or for worse, these organizations are all intertwined, though this could end CW broadcasts cutting away from competitive LIV Golf finishes to infomercials and sit-coms.
Will the awkward overlaps of players during the 2023 Masters or PGA Championship (which Koepka won) get any easier to digest? The post-tournament exchange between Koepka and PGA Tour CEO Seth Waugh was certainly a strange one.
